Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 220 Mixing meat and vegetables
"Xiaomei, I told you not to talk nonsense!"

Ouyang Lianyu never expected that Yan Mei would dare to talk nonsense in front of so many people. She quickly lowered her voice and scolded her, while nervously looking around, afraid that others would hear her.

Fortunately, Yan Mei had kept her voice very low, and everyone remained calm, as if they hadn't heard her words.

She breathed a sigh of relief, gave the other person a warning look, and signaled her not to say anything more.

However, although ordinary people cannot hear the conversation between the two, Han Zhou, who has now activated his enhanced hearing, can easily hear the whispers, which are only slightly lower than normal volume, leaving him completely bewildered.

I know I'm not bad, but what does "seriously consider the suggestion you just made" mean?
And... why did so many of you come into the ward together? Are you teaming up to fight a boss?
He wasn't quite sure about Gu Zheng's reaction, but Mo Yixia had definitely activated her "mind-reading" ability and was carefully observing everyone's expressions. She might even have caught the whispered conversation between Teacher Ouyang and that strange woman.

What day is it today...?

Han Zhou was in a real headache. Almost all the girls he had ever been involved with were gathered here. Given Mo Yixia's personality, and the fact that she was quite interested in these so-called rivals, who knew what kind of trouble she might cause later.

He had just talked himself hoarse trying to explain the couple's phone issue, but even so, Guzheng was still sulking. He couldn't afford any more problems from now on.

"Teacher Ouyang, senior, what's going on here...?"

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he turned his questioning gaze to the two people he knew best in the crowd.

"I……"

Ouyang Lianyu was about to speak, but for a moment she couldn't think of a reason for her visit.

Although she had come to ask Han Zhou why he had asked her to send Gu Zheng's parents away, she suddenly realized that he might not want Gu Zheng to know about this, and it was not appropriate to ask him in public.

As for accidentally revealing to Gu Zheng's parents that Han Zhou had spent the night at her house last night... that's something even more inconvenient to say in public.

While she hesitated, Zhang Xinyue quickly chimed in, "Sister Lianyu wanted to ask if you brought an umbrella. It's pouring rain outside right now. If you don't have an umbrella, we can take you home."

"And the guzheng." Ouyang Lianyu felt a little relieved and added with a light smile.

Her relationship with Han Zhou may have been misunderstood. If she continues to show concern only for Han Zhou, the problem may become even more serious.

Han Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then said with emotion, "Thank you for your concern, teacher, but it's alright. If the rain continues in a while, my friend will come to pick me up."

He had already contacted Lin Anyu and learned that he was in trouble. Naturally, Lin Anyu would not miss the opportunity to watch the drama unfold and was ready to visit him at the hospital at any time.

Mentioning Lin Anyu, Han Zhou couldn't help but glance at Zhang Xinyue, whose criteria for choosing a partner were quite flexible, and asked in confusion, "Sister Xinyue, what's wrong with your eyes?"

This guy looked heartbroken from the moment he walked in; his eyes looked swollen from crying. Could it be that a family member has passed away from a serious illness?
Thinking of this, he became very cautious in his questioning.

Hearing Han Zhou's concerned tone, Zhang Xinyue, who was already feeling guilty, felt even more ashamed. Her lips moved, but the words of apology seemed to be stuck on her lips, and she couldn't say them no matter what.

"Why are you crying? This is someone else's hospital room. You should at least cheer up." Yan Mei quickly patted her best friend's shoulder to comfort her and signal her to cheer up.

Ouyang Lianyu gave Han Zhou an apologetic look and said with a wry smile, "I'm sorry, Xinyue's emotions are a bit unstable right now..."

Seeing the woman who was all smiles yesterday now in this state, Han Zhou became even more certain of his guess. He sighed and comforted her, "It's okay, I understand. These things are sometimes unavoidable. The older you get, the more this happens. You have to learn to accept it."

He didn't offer condolences, otherwise it would be awkward if the other person was simply saddened by the discovery of a serious illness in a relative.

Yan Mei was taken aback when she heard this. Judging from what the other party said, did he already know that Xin Yue had exposed that he had spent the night at Sister Lian Yu's house last night?

These things are sometimes unavoidable, especially as you get older; you have to learn to accept them...

She pondered it carefully for a while, becoming increasingly alarmed. Could it be that this guy had been spending the night at girls' houses since he was a child? Had it even become a habit?!
She gasped, scrutinized Han Zhou's handsome face again for a moment, and nodded silently in her heart, thinking that this was highly likely.

This kid looks like a pretty boy.

Han Zhou didn't pay attention to the stranger he had just met, unaware that she was wildly imagining his past. Instead, he looked at Zhong Yin, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

Although he was somewhat afraid to meet this woman with a terrible personality, he didn't feel anything special after actually meeting her. His gaze swept over her pockets, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Sister Yin, it's been a long time."

Thankfully, I didn't bring a wrench.

Zhong Yin's outfit today is similar to Zhong Ling's, both very simple. However, if the two sisters were walking down the street, the older sister would most likely turn heads—after all, the greater the mass, the greater the gravity, which is an unchanging truth.

Even though they were all women, Ouyang Lianyu and the others would occasionally be drawn to that enormous thing, sneaking glances at it and silently comparing it to themselves.

Gu Zheng had already closed her eyes in anguish, trying to avoid seeing it and feeling the pain. She couldn't accept the fact that she was in last place.

"Ah."

Zhong Yin had always been quite averse to being stared at on the chest, so much so that she basically only wore loose clothes and often didn't dare to take off her coat. When she saw Han Zhou, the first thing he looked at was her legs. Although she didn't like it either, her mood inexplicably eased a bit.

Her expression relaxed slightly, but her tone still sounded stiff: "I heard from Xiaoling that you took good care of her at school, thank you."

Han Zhou knew that's just how she talked, so he didn't mind and said half-jokingly, "Of course, after all, I accepted your mooncakes."

He didn't care about Guzheng and Mo Yixia. The former had gone to the school with him and Zhong Ling and had witnessed Zhong Yin's parting words to him. The latter was an important bridge for him to get to know the two sisters and understand their relationship.

After clarifying the issue of couples' phones, all you need to do in this situation is to be open and honest.

At the same time, Mo Yixia had finished observing everyone in the ward and hadn't noticed anything wrong yet, so she greeted Zhong Yin with a smile: "Sister Yin, do you remember me?"

Zhong Yin had already seen her, but he didn't know whether he should greet her. Seeing this, he smiled gently and said, "It's been a long time, Yi Xia."

Her tone was gentle, a stark contrast to her attitude towards Han Zhou.

Zhong Ling smiled faintly, nodded to Mo Yixia and Gu Zheng, and then glanced at Han Zhou somewhat shyly.

Han Zhou took it upon himself to translate: "The senior asked if you liked the mooncakes?"

Upon hearing this, while others were still surprised, they were no longer surprised. However, Zhang Xinyue and Yan Mei, who were witnessing this scene for the first time, were completely bewildered.

What kind of mooncake?
Who is the senior?

Did anyone just speak?

Ouyang Lianyu knew the two would be confused, so she quietly explained it to them.

A hearing ability unlike that of ordinary people?
real or fake?

Yan Mei looked surprised, then suddenly realized something and asked in a low voice, "Wait, Sister Lianyu, since your student has such good hearing, didn't he hear what we just said?"

Ouyang Lianyu's smile froze, and she quickly looked up to observe Han Zhou's expression.

The latter remained calm, her eyes fixed on Zhong Ling's lips, as if she hadn't heard Yan Mei's question at all.

Noticing Han Zhou's gaze, Yan Mei said thoughtfully, "So it was lip reading. That makes sense... No, I need to test it again."

She lowered her head and carefully examined Ouyang Lianyu's neckline.

Ouyang Lianyu sensed something and asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"

Yan Mei gestured for her to be quiet, then suddenly covered her lips with her hand and whispered, "What color is Sister Lianyu's underwear today...?"

Ouyang Lianyu was shocked, a blush spreading from her cheeks to her ears, and she quickly tried to cover her mouth.

"Don't say it!"

Yan Mei remained unmoved, silently observing Han Zhou's expression, just as he looked over with a puzzled expression.

Not only Han Zhou, but almost everyone in the room looked at him with confusion. Gu Zheng asked in bewilderment, "Teacher Ouyang, what are you doing?"

The ward fell silent immediately.

"I……"

Ouyang Lianyu's face turned even redder. She covered her face and lowered her head, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into immediately.

Not only because of everyone's gaze, but also because she was worried that Han Zhou had just overheard Xiao Mei's words.

Yan Mei forced a smile and said, "It's nothing. Sister Lianyu seems to have caught a cold. We'll go get some medicine later."

Zhang Xinyue witnessed her best friend's bizarre actions firsthand. She was biting her lip, trying hard to suppress her laughter, but with her swollen eyes and tear stains on her face, she looked like she was about to cry. That half-crying, half-laughing expression was something many professional actors probably couldn't pull off.

Everyone could tell the cold story was nonsense, but they silently looked away, tacitly choosing not to pry. It seemed this girl was the Xiaomei Teacher Ouyang had mentioned; no wonder she was Zhang Xinyue's best friend, the two were quite a good match in some ways…

Han Zhou had no idea what this unfamiliar woman was up to, but she seemed quite interested in him.

This guy is really bored. It's the first time he's ever seen someone go to the trouble of testing his hearing. Even Mo Yixia has never done that before...

Although there was a minor incident, it did not affect the relatively harmonious atmosphere in the ward.

Gu Zheng was still sulking, but when she saw Zhong Ling's clean smile and the way she kept taking out mooncakes from her small cloth bag to share with everyone, she instantly lost her anger. She just took advantage of Han Zhou's arrival to give him a light punch to vent her dissatisfaction.

Despite knowing each other for so long, she had never gone to any interesting places with this guy.

Now, out of nowhere, she has a rival in love, and she's discovered that Han Zhou is using a matching phone with another girl. Gu Zheng feels a deep sense of crisis, and she remembers her father's words from that day—

We must make Han Zhou realize that he can't live without him.

But how can I make him realize that?

Should I just confess my feelings directly?
But what if it fails?
If someone with my personality were to actually become Han Zhou's girlfriend, I'd definitely be the kind of wicked woman who's jealous of others...

The girl, who was always confident in everything, became unusually hesitant when it came to love.

Seeing that Han Zhou had placed a glass of water next to her, Mo Yixia said "thank you," stood up, picked up the glass, and asked in an almost inaudible voice, "Isn't one missing?"

"What? One is missing?" Han Zhou was taken aback.

"My rival in love."

"Where did you get so many rivals in love?"

Mo Yixia took a small sip of water: "You bought a lot of souvenirs the day you left Yecheng. One of the bracelets is already on the wrist of that girl named Guzheng. What about the rest of the souvenirs?"

Han Zhou said irritably, "If every souvenir you give away counts as having another rival in love, then Lin Anyu and Ya Ya should also be people you're wary of."

He almost thought this guy had figured out the existence of the status bar. "There's one more person" refers to the last known unlockable character, the girl named Wang Lengqiu whom he hadn't met yet.

"Makes sense."

Mo Yixia handed him the cup, agreeing wholeheartedly, "Greedy people don't care about gender or age."

"Why don't you just add 'don't care about the difference between humans and animals' to it..."

"Is this considered an admission of guilt?"

Han Zhou chuckled dryly twice: "What I mean is, don't put the title of 'perverted man who doesn't discriminate between meat and vegetables' on my head."

Mo Yixia asked thoughtfully, "So, in your eyes, am I meat or vegetarian?"

"This... is it... meat-related?"

"You're quite adept at telling dirty jokes..." he thought to himself.

"So that girl named Guzheng is Su?"

"Uh, I guess so..." Han Zhou's expression became somewhat unnatural.

"What are you talking about?"

Just then, a curious voice interrupted their conversation. Han Zhou turned around and saw the strange woman who had come with Ouyang Lianyu.

Mo Yixia had no interest in talking to him and weakly closed her eyes, clearly intending to let Han Zhou deal with her.

Her current interests are mainly focused on two things: Han Zhou and her potential rivals in love. The woman in front of her is clearly not a potential rival.

I wonder what Yan Mei will think when she finds out what she's thinking...

Although Han Zhou still finds it difficult to understand Mo Yixia's thoughts, they still have a basic understanding. He smiled and said, "It's nothing, just talking about a balanced diet. Is there something you need?"

The woman had shown great interest in him from the moment she entered the room, and now that she was talking to him, she probably had something to say.

Not far away, Ouyang Lianyu was talking to Guzheng and Zhong Yin on the hospital bed. When she saw Yan Mei sneak over to Han Zhou's side, she thought Yan Mei was going to say something nonsense. Her expression changed slightly, and she quickly nudged Zhang Xinyue next to her, signaling her to stop her.

But it was too late.

Yan Mei teased, "This is the first time I've ever seen a boy as handsome as you. I'd really like to know if you have a girlfriend?"

She asked the question in a teasing tone, and considering her status as a friend of Ouyang Lianyu, she was practically Han Zhou's elder, so it didn't seem out of place.

This question immediately attracted everyone's attention. Everyone pricked up their ears, and even Mo Yixia reopened her eyes, gave the woman an approving look, and then waited with great interest for Han Zhou's answer.

Han Zhou's heart tightened, and he shook his head with a smile, "No."

However, the woman wasn't going to give up so easily, and continued to ask curiously, "So, do you have someone you like?"

This question was of utmost importance, and everyone held their breath in suspense. Gu Zheng even wished she could pull out her IV drip and lean in to listen carefully.

In an instant, all sorts of gazes—tense, expectant, and those of onlookers—fell on Han Zhou.

Han Zhou felt a sudden toothache and couldn't figure out what this woman was up to. Seeing that everyone was staring at him, he didn't dare to show any guilt and forced an awkward but polite smile.

"Have."

And there were two of them... he silently added in his mind.

It's not strange to have someone you like, and there's nothing wrong with admitting it.

But if nothing unexpected happens, this guy will probably ask him who he likes next...

His anxiety grew, as if he were about to be taken to the execution ground.

Sure enough, Yan Mei looked surprised and winked, saying, "Who is it? Could you tell me?"

Of course it's inconvenient. Who are you? Are we that close?

Han Zhou wanted to say that, but just then, Zhong Ling said weakly, "I want to know too."

Her voice was very soft, and no one except Han Zhou could hear it.

But Zhong Yin, true to his protective nature, quickly sensed his sister's curiosity and took the initiative to join in, saying stiffly, "Actually, I'd like to know too."

The air was silent for two seconds.

"Me too."

Seeing someone step forward, Mo Yixia naturally couldn't miss the opportunity and calmly voiced her agreement.

"I... I don't really care... If Han Zhou doesn't want to talk about it, then so be it, don't force him."

This impatient sound came from the stubborn guzheng.

Seeing that her attempts to speak out went unnoticed, Zhong Ling had no choice but to silently raise her right hand to show her stance.

Zhang Xinyue was too embarrassed to join in Han Zhou's fun, so she didn't dare raise her hand too high.

Seeing everyone gossiping so much, Ouyang Lianyu shook her head helplessly.

Han Zhou was overjoyed, thinking that it had to be his dear teacher Ouyang. Just when he thought that Ouyang Lianyu was going to support him and ask everyone to respect his privacy, he saw the other party smile a little embarrassedly.

"Well, the teacher is actually quite curious too..."

This isn't an excessive issue; it's a good thing that young people dare to express their feelings.

Han Zhou was stunned.

After a brief silence, he steeled himself, sighed helplessly, and scanned the faces of everyone present, giving a vague answer.

"She is actually in this room."

After finishing today's work, I shouldn't have to update and revise at the last minute anymore; I'm exhausted both physically and mentally.
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(End of this chapter)